


The Great Escape: Galaxy Corporation: Entrance

by moody_trans_detective



Series: Rogueass Galaxy [25]
Category: Rogue Galaxy
Genre: Daddy Issues, Explosions, Gen, PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:15:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28040727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moody_trans_detective/pseuds/moody_trans_detective
Summary: Mio just doesn't trust these people.
Series: Rogueass Galaxy [25]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1956043
Kudos: 1





	The Great Escape: Galaxy Corporation: Entrance

Mio was suspicious of them the moment they walked up. She knew who they all were, of course—it was as much her business to stay informed as it was to be a shining icon—in fact, she probably knew them better than they knew themselves. She knew, for example, that the young man in his early twenties—about her age, now that she thought about it—was not the real Desert Claw. The real Desert Claw was back on Rosa, keeping a low profile, and the last time he’d ventured off the planet was to chart a ship here to see her and give her a set of clothes to pass onto Jaster Rogue once he’d met a particular goal.

But suspicious, they definitely were. She knew the least about Lilika from Juraika, although she was a powerful warrior and leader. Simon, Mio knew and detested. He traveled with Steve, which automatically made him untrustworthy. Where Steve was now, she didn’t know. Simon was directly in front of her, and he smelled of rotten fish and shame. She wrinkled her nose, asked how she could be of help.

They didn’t even have the sense to ask for her autograph. She’d worked damned hard to make a name for herself— _her_ name—and none of these people even knew who she was. Mio wasn’t impressed.

She tried her best, she really did, put on extra charm and tried to explain why their request was currently impossible, but they refused to understand her. Mio was growing frustrated.

She studied their faces, trying to get through to them. Lilika was clearly unaccustomed to things like Galactic Travel Visas and very super important people. Jaster, too, struggled with it, although he seemed to better understand why a visa was necessary. Simon, she couldn’t even look at. He wouldn’t show his face. And he traveled with Steve. That was practically a crime.

Now that Mio thought of it, all these people must be traveling with Steve. She was glad she didn’t have to help them. But she was increasingly concerned where Steve was now and what he was doing—with Pocacchio’s sick programing, he could be up to anything.

Last time she’d seen him, he’d tracked her down for Pocacchio. He’d been there to pass along a message.

“He wants to talk to you. He wants you back,” Steve had said.

Mio had decided then Steve hadn’t known what he was asking.

“He doesn’t want _me_ back. Just…just go.”

Steve had seemed confused. But he didn’t have to understand what was going on to be a danger. Robots could be programmed, like children could be filled with the ideas of their parents. Mio couldn’t consider him safe. In fact, he was one of the least safe people she knew.

And all of these rude, stubborn people here kept his company. She tried again with Jaster, who unfortunately seemed the most reachable. Unfortunate because he still seemed a bit…slow. At least to the way things worked on Zerard. He was pretty cute though. The birthmark that almost looked like a tattoo. The way he cocked his hip just a little. She knew he’d been a bit of a…prostitute back on his home planet. That made her like him a little more, but again, the Steve problem.

She must have been distracted by his eyes. She was completely shaken when the explosion went off. Mio panicked immediately, wanting to get away. Explosions meant anger, meant danger. Her entire body tingled. Her mind seemed to speed up and blank at the same time.

Steve. This had to be Steve’s doing, Pococchio had gotten him to set a bomb at her work. A threat. A burst of anger like when he’d shouted at her as a child, trying to intimidate her into being someone she wasn’t, someone harder, someone like him. He was back at it now, wasn’t going to let her have her life.

Well, she wasn’t him, could never be him. She was a girl. She was a girl with a successful job at one of the biggest corporations on Zerard, with more fans than anyone could dream off, with her own magazine and dating site and in the next year a clothing line. People loved her for her.

Her fear made her defiant. He couldn’t scare her enough to take this from her. And she was going to show Pocacchio that she was truly the daughter—and granddaughter—of two doctorate-level smart people. She may interact sweetly, but she was clever. If Pocacchio had Steve set this explosion—and she was sure he had—she’d do the unexpected. She’d turn it about on him, on the people he was with.

“You!” Mio channeled all the fear at the violence that had erupted nearby and used it. Let Pocacchio figure out how to make Steve a useful pawn when he got his associates thrown in prison.

Jaster gaped at her as she accused him of being a Draxilian terrorist, completely blindsided. But this wasn’t about him. If he was truly who her sources said he was, he’d be fine in prison. Lilika too. Simon, Mio didn’t care.

As they were hauled away she sat back, still shaken. She could still smell the smoke from the explosive, and her mind reeled with the terrible feeling of being small again, a child, at Pocacchio’s mercy. He’d hit her a few times, but mostly he’d exploded in anger and loudness, tearing apart everything. Her trust in him. The idea he could love her. Her sense of belonging, of being real. All blown apart in his rage at her like the explosion ripping through the wall here.

She swallowed. She needed one of those soothing herbal teas from the little café down the street. And a cat-shaped pastry. Maybe two.


End file.
